tuesday, september 11, 2001, dawn temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern united states. so begins the 9/11 commission report on what was about to become a day filled with dark skies. the first event of that day happened not in washington, boston or new york, but here in portland, maine, at mike dewey's us airways ticket counter. it was just before 6:00 a.m. and tuohey had checked in the first commuter flight to boston. >> i'm going to step outside and have a smoke out on the sidewalk. just as i stepped over the counter, i look up and see these two fellows standing there and they're looking around. >> reporter: in the official report of the 9/11 attack, there are 1,742 footnotes. mike tuohey is the very first. >> i look at the tickets. i go, whoa, first class tickets. you don't see $2,400 tickets anymore. and these were real tickets. you know? they were not -- they were paper tickets. so i'm saying, well, good thing, can i check them in. first class. >> reporter: the names on the tickets -- abdulaziz alomari and mohamed atta, the ring leader of the operation. >> i think t